By Ariana Wilson

The Northcoast Preparatory Academy recently concluded its whirlwind theatre immersion exercise on Jan. 23-25. The performances were held in Gist Hall Theatre, allowing NPA juniors and seniors the creative liberty to design sets, props, and costumes, act, and collaborate with directors to adapt a play to their vision. This year’s play was Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. 

Ionesco’s play is an absurdist social criticism of fascism in Nazi Germany. The rhinoceros symbolizes the savage nature of humanity and portrays the ease at which individuals can become conformists when influenced by a majority.

As upperclassmen and students of NPA, actors Margot Roscoe, Joey Hodges, and Richie Alvarez embodied the roles of Berenger, Jean, and Papillon, respectively. 

“When you’re a character that is completely detached from the world, you can detach yourself from the world too, and you are completely limp to whatever else is happening, completely oblivious to the world around you,” Roscoe, who plays Berenger, said. “And then you get serious, and then you’re the only one left, and then you kind of have to face [yourself] and have to face humanity.”

Director Omar Gad was introduced to the project as students received scripts. Learning alongside the actors that were thrown into the “The idea was to introduce the scripts to [the students] and give them a feel for it,” Gad said. “I think people forget what absurdity feels like, and [we had to] bring them into the mentality of absurdism and fascism in a historical period.”

Directors Omar Gad and Rosemary Stevens had less than two weeks to rehearse and prepare for opening night. “It’s kind of a process that’s established at NPA,” Stevens said. “We read the script with the students, make sure they understand what’s going on. We do some theater exercises, build a little bit of the ensemble community beforehand, then we do auditions, and we give everyone their role.”

Berenger, identified as the town drunk, is relatively indifferent throughout the play and has no fundamental beliefs. Still, as more and more townsfolk begin to adopt this fascist mentality, deny humanism, reject individuality, and become rhinoceroses, Berenger starts to sober up and think for himself.

Director Rosemary Stevens reflected on Ionesco’s influence through the lens of her and Gad’s directorial vision.

“Ionesco’s interpretation of the times that he’s living was like, ‘Let me take all these horrible things happening and abstract it and make it almost so ridiculous and absurd,’” Stevens said. “So, we had to take some of the words Ionesco had written and give them to other characters but maintain the same story. And that was really fun, and it was really rewarding, seeing the way the students made it work.”

In the play, Berenger visits his steadfast and opinionated best friend, Jean, at his home following an argument the pair had at a local bar. Berenger shares his fears about the rampant rhinoceros with Jean as he watches everyone he knows morph into animals. Throughout their conversation, Jean paces in and out of his bathroom. Each time he returns, he resembles the savage animal more and more until he has completely transformed.

“When I’m turning into a rhinoceros, I say, ‘After all, rhinoceroses are living creatures, just like you and me. They have just as much right to life as we do,’ and I’m like, looking at the audience and saying, ‘Fascists are humans too,’” Hodges, who plays Jean, said. “And I’m like, ‘Why am I saying that?’ But NPA has always wanted us to voice our opinions [and be] advocates for everyone. NPA pushes you to go beyond what you are and then also reminds you that you’re not a horrible person.”

In the play’s final moments, Berenger is alone, the last unchanged human. His morals waver as he watches all his friends, colleagues, and loved ones become unfamiliar, horn-nosed beasts. He talks to himself to the point of invigoration, increasingly becoming aware of the importance of free will and accepting contradiction.

Rhinoceros is thought-provoking and timely. When politics and people are divided, it is easy to become detached, but Ionesco reminds us, “When you’re involved yourself, you can’t help feeling directly concerned.”

Ariana Wilson is a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in scientific diving. She intends to merge her passion for the environment and conservation with her love of journalism as a science writer in the future. This semester’s goal: write one story per section.